Christopher Dean
Christopher Colin Dean, OBE (born 27 July, 1958 in Nottingham, England) is a British famous figure skater who won a gold medal in Ice dancing at the 1984 Winter Olympics with his skating partner Jayne Torvill. They also won a bronze medal at the 1994. Dean is from Calverton, Nottinghamshire. His father, Colin Dean, was an electrician and occasional plumber. Dean was awarded the rank of Officer of The Order of the British Empire in 1999. Skating career Christopher Dean began to skate at the age of 10 after he received a pair of skates as a Christmas present. His parents were keen ballroom dancers. At school he was captain of the football team and he saw ice skating as a sport that was athletic and graceful. Dean's first ice partner was Sandra Elson. They began skating together when he was 14 and competed as ice dancers for a few years. However, despite becoming British Junior Dance champions, the team parted, as Dean and Elson did not get along well. Dean then agreed to try out Jayne Torvill, another skater at the Nottingham rink. The pair were first coached by Janet Sawbridge, but in 1978 Betty Callaway became their coach. Dean left school at age 16 and joined the Nottingham Police Force in 1974. It was challenging for him to undergo police cadet training, as his schedule often clashed with his skating training sessions. Thus Torvill and Dean had to practise during his off-hours. These difficult times brought them closer and gave them a sense of discipline that was to prove vital throughout their career. By 1980, Torvill and Dean had progressed to not only become British National Dance Champions but were in medal contention in international competitions as well. It was then that Chris realized he could no longer balance his skating and police careers, and he resigned from the police force. Torvill soon quit her job as well. Dean also served as the chief choreographer for the Torvill and Dean team. Torvill and Dean's free program at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics, performed to the music of Maurice Ravel's Boléro, became world famous. They received nine "6.0" marks for artistic impression, the highest possible score and the only time ever that an all-perfect score was achieved. This was one of the most popular achievements in the history of British sport, watched by a British television audience of twenty-four million people. Torvill and Dean turned professional after their 1984 Olympic win. Under then-existing Olympic Games rules, as professionals they became ineligible to participate in Olympic competition. In 1993 the International Skating Union relaxed its rules for professional skaters, which allowed the pair to participate in the 1994 in Lillehammer, where they won a bronze medal. Torvill and Dean were admitted to the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1989. Personal life Between 1991 and 1993 Dean was married to French Canadian world ice dance champion Isabelle Duchesnay, whom he met while choreographing the routines for her and her brother Paul Duchesnay in the late 1980s. On 15 October, 1994 Dean married Jill Trenary, an American skater, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They have two sons, Jack Robert and Sam Colin, and currently reside in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Amateur competitive results (with Torvill) Professional competitive results (with Torvill) External links *BBC story on Torvill and Dean's Olympic gold *Care to Ice Dance? - Torvill & Dean *olympic.org Athlete Profile - Dean Category:British figure skaters